A Smile Goes a Long Way (at least from Austin to Gunnison)

I’m taking a one posting break from garage sale musings to ask a question: if airlines are in the customer service business then why do they put their worst employees who are the least attuned to customer service in an area where mastery of customer service is most essential? I’m talking about lost luggage reclamation. I discovered this last week when my lovely wife’s bag left Austin, Texas bound for Gunnison, Colorado, but was waylaid for several days in Denver. My wife made it, thankfully, but the bag didn’t. Word to the wise, two carry-on bags are allowed…I will pack shorts and g-string underwear even if I am planning on going polar ice fishing in the Arctic just so I can carry on my bags.

As we pursued her bag with the doggedness of a polar bear out of hibernation, I was amazed that an area of "service" where customers who end up in line are frustrated to near postal proportions is staffed with people who offer the same level of customer service as the warden at the state penitentiary. On board, friendly, attractive stewards and stewardesses (sorry, flight attendants) pass out mini pretzels and lukewarm beverages with a smile during a time when all I want to do is be left alone to read or sleep. Meanwhile, as I deplane to find that my bag is AWOL in some bizarre location, I have to go to some obscure part of the airport and get in line at the reclamation counter. There, I am greeted by the same “leave me alone” attitude that one might find at the all night 7-11 at 2 AM. Would it not be prudent to put your a-one, top of the line customer service reps in a place where a friendly smile and a kind word would go a long way toward solving the problem?

An aside: is someone down in the baggage sorting area sticking bags on planes going to Timbuktu for a sick joke? The bag tag says “GUN, CO”…how hard is it to get it to Gunnison, Colorado? Unless you just got fired from the coveted reclamation counter position.

I guess the moral of the story is: a smile goes a long way. It’s something we should keep in mind as we make our way throughout our own lives. Well that and, g-string underwear can be folded into a 1 inch by 1 inch by 1 inch square and can double as fishing line for your polar ice fishing trips. Catch you later.

Garage Sale Phenomenon: Part 2

Alright…here is the deal: its garage sale morning, its go time. The female half of the four couples have arisen early with the same excitement and adrenaline rush as one might feel if they were preparing to play for a national championship. For you see, this is the championship of the garage sale world. It’s time to prove to all who attend that you are the best of the best, the cream of the crop, to attain the heralded title of the best “garage saler” around. Realize, anyone can go to a garage sale and stumble across a good deal; but putting on a garage sale and coming out the top seller…that is the pinnacle of success in the garage sale world. It is the Super Bowl, when everyone else is playing for the 1A state championship. And so it begins.

Four couples arrive at the home of those hosting the garage sale, breakfast tacos (from La Familia, Schneider) in hand, 30 minutes prior to the start time of 7:00 AM listed in the newspaper ad. (By the way, subtract from any money earned the cost of the aforementioned ad as they don’t give those away for free.) Typically, the first 30 minutes will look like this: guys sit around and eat tacos and drink coffee; ladies huddle up and decide who is the most outspoken and aggressive of the group. This lady is posted at the end of the driveway to ward off those die hard bargain shoppers who started circling the cul-de-sac sometime last night and are now trying to get a jump on the competition. There will be no fewer than ten cars, laden with “garage salers” who try to get to your stuff before the appropriate hour of 7:00 AM. And this violates all garage sale rules apparently. I'm still unclear why it does because I was under the impression that we wanted to sell all we could. But, I digress as I'll cover that later. While these diehards are rebuffed, the remaining ladies move tables of “merchandise” out of the garage, onto the driveway, and get set up with eager anticipation of the fast approaching hour of 7:00 AM.